Outwardly, Haruka knew his demeanor was the epitome of self-possession; he'd forced his jaw to unclench and blinked rapidly every now and again to assure the look of wide-eyed rage had not returned. Cold fury prickled just beneath his skin, and every time that smug bastard dared to turn and eye him again he felt the anger spike.

The surgeon, Nitori, was cautious with his erstwhile hostage, guiding her carefully around obstacles in the path even as his wicked blade adjusted constantly to keep the vulnerable hollow of her throat within striking distance. When they had set off, Haru had a vague idea of motioning others ahead, orchestrating an ambush to take her back and put an end to these fools that had so casually thwarted his intentions.

They were simply too organized; he had seen the tension between them as they stood before him, bickering without words, communicating only in subtle shifts of their body and veiled glances. Miho herself had said the end of their discussion during their brief captivity had suggested some small amount of enmity between the crew- unfortunately, whatever divisiveness she had sensed had given way to perfect cooperation.

Their captain, Rin, walked ahead beside Nitori, eyes scanning the ground before them and the forestry to their side for any sign of a double-cross. Nitori never wavered in his attention to his captive; Miho had put up a brief struggle not ten minutes into their walk, whereupon the surgeon had promptly kicked out her knee again and placed the scalpel to her eye. His self-possession had been worrisome- not so much as a glimmer of the hesitant prisoner remained.

There had been no more attempts after that, and Haru had promised himself he was going to make the 'healer' weep an hour for every quiet tear that had slipped down Miho's face at the implied threat. She was not a woman to startle easily, and gods all knew she had every right to be terrified.

The one called Makoto trailed behind, walking behind Haru's own captive, calm now that they were heading back toward their ship. With a few words, Makoto had convinced the small one to cease struggling, and though his gaze was nothing short of murderous, still he hadn't tried to flee.

That might have had something to do with Goro following just behind, his face showing plainly what he thought of this business.

There was no question in Haruka's mind but that he was going to have his pound of flesh, and a fair bit of blood to go with it.

He could just see the shore ahead, sand gleaming invitingly in the dimming sunlight; once these corsairs were aboard their ship there was precious little he could do to them personally. The ship, on the other hand, was fair game and a pleasingly large target. A satisfied smile crept across his lips at the thought; if their Captain believed his ship was in sore need of repairs now, how would he react when Haru scuttled her?

It would be singularly difficult to ply the trade of piracy without a sea-worthy vessel, and once the crew was forced to shore he could take a more leisurely vengeance upon them.

Rin turned at just that moment, eyes narrowing as though he had sensed the echo of Haru's thoughts; perhaps he had, Haruka had taken little pain to conceal them. The captain dropped back slightly, falling into step beside him, "Your face says we're going to pay for this, but I would remind you that it was not I that provoked this."

"It doesn't matter." Haruka murmured, unperturbed.

Rin bit his lip, only just holding back a frustrated snarl; it was devilishly hard to carry on a fight with an opponent that only regarded his flailing with contemptuous amusement. Given half a chance he'd wipe the self-certainty from that face permanently.

"Personally, I think all this is going well. Nagisa hasn't bothered your man once- not that I can say the same for our-"

"Do you believe I will allow this to pass unchallenged?"

Rin shrugged eloquently, "Frankly, I don't see that you have much of a choice. I know your numbers, you don't know mine. I'm better armed and entirely prepared for any vengeance you care to extract."

Haruka only nodded, a thoroughly unconcerned gesture that set Rin's teeth on edge. He glanced again to Nitori, verifying that his prisoner was still reasonably compliant. Not that Nitori needed his help subduing her apparently- he had been remarkably quick and surprisingly ruthless at the first sign of struggle.

Once again, the boy had raised himself several notches in Rin's estimation… no, not fair to call him a 'boy'; for all his pretty mannerisms, Nitori was no child to be coddled and placated. That had been made abundantly clear today.

!

!

They completed the walk to shore in silence; no sooner had they shed the protection of the forest than Nagisa shrugged free of his captor. He was suspiciously good-natured about the debacle, not so much as a threatening hiss. Rin spared a moment to worry for the poor soul that had dared to lay violent hands on him; between him and Makoto they were sure to come up with some diabolical payback.

Haruka's shoulders flexed as though he were imagining the pleasure of landing a solid punch on Nagisa's pretty face. Rin couldn't blame him, there were times when even he considered knocking Nagisa out for a few hours of peace.

Nitori turned, face pinched and gloomy, but still resolutely keeping an eye on his hostage until Nagisa stepped away, Makoto following behind him.

No sooner had he released her than the damned woman lashed out at his shins; Nitori hissed with pain, jumping back clumsily. If they were going to keep taking him out to shore, Rei was going to have to give him a few lessons in grace. Nagisa's neutral expression gave way to a grimace of frustration, but his pistols stayed firmly in the belt at his waist- always a good sign.

"I suppose we're finished here." Rin remarked, feeling a smirk spread over his features; exactly the expression that had landed him in hot water so many times before, but really, what could they do now besides retreat and lick their wounds? Only a fool would try three against four with the enemy's 'camp' in full view.

Haruka's answering smile was not reassuring, his words even less so. "Not by half, captain."

!

!

"Are you all right?" Haruka reached out a cautious hand to take Mihou's chin, turning her this way and that to get a look at the angry red welt that had risen along her throat.

"Dead. He's dead. I will personally end that one." Her voice was tight, whether with anger or tears Haru couldn't be sure, perhaps both.

He didn't bother with false comfort, only squeezed gently before stepping back. "You won't-"

"I think you should leave that to me-"

"I wasn't finished." Curiously, Mihou fell silent. Haruka eyed her with concern; respect was not a quality Mihou Amakata was known for, to be this docile she had to be even angrier than she appeared.

"You've never been good at holding grudges. Besides, I'd rather not deal with a host of corpses; they're going to pay a price for the time and effort they've cost us… but ultimately, I want them off this island. I want word to spread that this is not land for the taking and that its inhabitants are not to be trifled with."

"I suppose it would complicate matters if they were all dead." Mihou glared after them, jaw working softly while she ground her teeth together. "You're sure we can't just make off with the little one? Maybe I could take his good right eye for a keepsake."

"I was thinking something a little more personal." Haru could practically see her ears pricking with interest.

"Such as?"

"We cripple the ship. Scuttle her during low tide and leave her floundering just off shore; they'll have no choice but to effect some quick repairs and make their way to the nearest friendly port."

Mihou grinned, "I like it. When can we start?"

"Tonight."

!

!

!

Stifling his uneasiness at giving Haruka his back, Rin pushed the others ahead and chivvied them into a jog; for once, Nagisa didn't bitch about how much he hated running- small blessings. He risked a glance behind them at the small group they had left behind; he knew better than to think they had seen the last of the inhabitants, and evidently Makoto agreed because he jogged steadily beside Rin instead of giving in to his normal habit of sprinting toward ship.

Makoto had always been more comfortable with solid wood beneath his feet than shifting sand, he wouldn't relax until he was safe aboard ship again. Nitori skipped away from Nagisa's terribly obvious attempt to trip him, ignoring the bait as per usual. Makoto stifled a chuckle at his stiff-legged gait, nudging Rin playfully as though they weren't still in hostile territory.

"Someone has to do something about our not-quite-a-church-mouse and his singular lack of grace."

"Shut up or you'll embarrass him, and that would be a shame because I am volunteering you for training duty."

Makoto chuckled, stretching his legs ostentatiously as he loped ahead to place himself between Nagisa and his hapless prey.

"I'll bet anyone my good pistols Rei spots us first!" Nagisa had to jump quickly to avoid Makoto's hand.

"He'd better, it's his job."

Rin laughed aloud, making a show of it in case their audience was still watching from afar. "You'd take the hands off anyone that tried to collect otherwise."

Fortunately Rin would never have a chance to test that hypothesis, Rei practically vaulted the railing at first sight of them, visible even as they climbed into the dinghy amidst mostly good-natured ribbing.

"Come on, Nitori, climb off the edge; you look like my maiden-aunt on a day trip. Grab an oar!" Rin tossed an oar, watching with some amusement when Nitori fumbled it and nearly lost his precarious perch on the edge. Gone was the no-nonsense kidnapper of not an hour past. Still, there was hope for him if he could be taught to show that ruthless side a little more often.

"Nagisa, so help you, poke me one more time and I will patch the mainsail with your skin."

"I could find a use for his organs." Nitori added, an uncharacteristically bright smile hovering about his lips and a quality in his tone that suggested he was not speaking entirely in jest.

Good God. I have an honest to heaven lunatic aboard my ship. Rin sighed deeply, at least he fit in with the rest or them; no one aboard the Samenoe would make a claim to perfect sanity. Truth be told he liked Nitori a little more now for his slightly off-key humor- if it was humor and not a statement of intent. He would have a word with Nagisa once they were safely back, instruct him to meet Nitori in the infirmary and make his apologies; doubtless the two of them would be fast friends in no time.

Bickering and laughing by turns, all of them tense and all of them equally determined to hide it, they made their slow way to the ship giving quiet thanks that the tide was with them. Rin didn't like to think what might have happened if they had been forced to wait on land for the tide to turn. As far out as the ship was, the island's territorial inhabitants weren't likely to try crossing the breadth of water between ship and shore. In these warm waters there would be more to worry about than simply the current.

!

!

Rei tossed the hemp ladder down himself, watching as Nagisa shoved past all of them and scurried up the rope, practically hurling himself into Rei's arms.

"Funny thing happened on shore leave." Nagisa chirped brightly, clinging to Rei's coat as he helped the others aboard.

Makoto staggered onto deck next and kicked Nagisa's ankle in a gentle warning, "That's for the captain to tell. Pipe down."

Nagisa subsided, confining himself to a playful wriggle of his eyebrows when Rei chanced to throw him a questioning glance.

"Nothing to tell." Rin snapped, "We had a run-in with a few of the locals you swore didn't exist-"

"Not fair!

"Shut up, Nagisa. No one's in trouble. Not Rei's fault the little bastards camp away from shore." Rin turned to help Nitori aboard only to find him perching on the railing, as solemn as ever now that they had returned to his once-prison. Damn, he had rather hoped that fey mood would last a little longer.

"Point is, we still need to re-stock and there are still repairs to be made, we'll just need to be a little more cautious in our handling of it. Then we get the hell out of here before they decide we got off too easy. After we leave them something to remember us by."

"Then you didn't see." Makoto raised a brow, surprise and delight flashing across his features.

"What'd I miss?" Had anyone else dared to point out a lapse of attention, Rin might have lost his temper in a truly spectacular fashion. Ship scuttlebutt had it that Makoto's exotic tricks kept that temper from ever being directed at him, but in truth it was more a matter of Rin knowing precisely how creative Makoto could be in his counterattacks, and so choosing not to invoke one.

"I think we should discuss it in your cabin. The five of us." Makoto gestured magnanimously to include Rei, tipping his head in the direction of the captain's cabin.

"Cabin it is. The hell are you gawking at? Move!"

Nagisa scrambled ahead, dragging Rei with him spiritedly. Nitori waited diffidently until Rin and Makoto stepped ahead, sharing a knowing glance between them; if it made the healer more comfortable to play at helplessness now that they were back aboard ship there was no harm in it. In fact, Rin had an idea or two of how he might use that retiring attitude to his advantage. Judging from the thoughtful look on Mako's face he was considering the same solution.

Captain Rin's stateroom was nowhere near so cramped as the crew's quarters, but with the five of them inside and the door firmly shut it was enough to trigger Nitori's claustrophobia. He clamped his hands at his sides and bit his tongue gently, breathing through his nose to keep from hyperventilating. It had never been a problem before, being below-deck. The infirmary wasn't precisely spacious, but given that the only tenants were he and the occasional injured crewman, it had never seemed cramped either.

Four other able-bodied men crowding this close in with Nagisa's elbow brushing against him as he tried to angle himself for the best view of the enormous map along the Eastern wall… it was everything he could do to keep from choking.

Damn the air was close and hot and oh God please stop touching me.

"Are you all right?"

Nitori's fist slammed into a blunt edge as he skittered back, breath leaving him in a panicked rush. Makoto. Only Makoto.

"I'm fine, sir." Best to err on the side of caution. Makoto wasn't given to formality, he had given strict orders a handful of times in the past that there were certain words that must never be used with respect to him. Nitori remembered one unforgettable night when Makoto had ended up in the infirmary for a broken finger after he had started a bar brawl. His reason? Another patron had jokingly referred to him as "The master of the ship". Hopefully he would be too concerned with Nitori's use of the hated word than with his suddenly pale face.

"You really don't know how far off the mark you are. One of these days I'll enlighten you." His smile was friendly, reassuring. Nitori wondered if his swiftly-contained panic had been noted despite his best effort to avoid it. It was always difficult to tell with him; any other face aboard ship Nitori could read as easily as the Latin his medical texts had been written in, but Makoto's face might as well have been Greek for all he could decipher of it.

He hated that more than anything.

"Oi, Makoto, quit terrorizing the girl." Ah, Nagisa. He was the easiest of all of them, never bothering with even the most rudimentary effort to disguise his thoughts. And there were so very many of them, always thinking and considering, a dozen different tangents visible in every twitch of his lips and minute shift of his eyes. For all his bullying Nagisa was easily the safest of all the crew. Ever predictable, ever dependable Nagisa.

Nitori stifled his smirk before it could show, knowing that would only draw his tormentor's attention. It didn't matter much at this point, Rin and Makoto were already discussing ways to put him into direct conflict with Nagisa. Certainly they saw it as an errand of mercy; for Nitori, it was a nuisance- Nagisa was his only honest foe on a ship full of enemies that desperately pretended to be comrades.

And much to his distress, even Nagisa would do better by him than his former colleagues; such was the price paid for being the only progressive thinker in the Imperial navy.

Nitori barely kept from flinching when Rin yanked him aside, shoving him briskly into a corner while the others gathered around the table. Rei was good enough to slant him an apologetic look, shrugging his shoulders as if to say "What can we expect?" Nitori offered him a genuine smile in return, Ryugazaki Rei was the only honorable man aboard, and Nitori counted himself among the sinning masses.

"Mako, I thought you had something important to say.. Or was that just an excuse to come down here and drain my personal stock of whiskey?"

Rin dropped to the floor, prying up a board to pull out a small flask, "Doesn't matter really, because we're draining my stock of whiskey anyway. My nerves could use a little strengthening, and none of you look much better off."

Makoto rolled his eyes expressively, pushing himself up onto the table to swing his legs jauntily. "Rather than leaving a sign of our passing so to speak, I think we should take something instead."

"Like what?" Nagisa snorted, "Their firewood? I'm sure that would make a point."

Nitori winced at his derisive laughter, but Makoto joined in until the ship's brat subsided, no longer amused at his own wit. Granted, there wasn't much wit to be amused with, but Nagisa always gave it his best shot.

"I thought as much. None of you saw. Or perhaps Nitori…?"

The surgeon blanched, raising his hands slightly in a gesture of surrender. Whatever retaliation they were planning, he wanted no part of this; enough blood had been shed on his account and at his direction that he had no thirst for more.

"Not even Nitori." The satisfaction in Makoto's tone was enough to darken Rin's countenance. No, his captain did not care much to be left on the outside of any arrangement.

"What didn't anyone else here see except you, oh wise and ever-watchful Makoto?"

Mako snatched the whiskey from his hand, sipped daintily before speaking a single word. "Treasure."

A profound silence descended all at once until Nitori swore he could hear the blood pulsing through his ears and his heart pounding bird-fast in his chest.

"The hell kind of treasure are we talking about?" All sign of merriment was gone from their small collective, replaced on every face with the gleam of avarice.

"I can't be sure, but did you notice how careful they were to stand opposite us, even when we chose to resist? They were protecting something- something they thought it might be worth a pirate's trouble to seize. Something they thought we might risk an all-out battle for. Nagisa, the man who held you-"

"Goro." Nagisa growled, shifting forward on the balls of his feet.

Makoto nodded, "He had an earring, several in fact, that he took care to remove before we were taken from our 'cell'. The one called Haruka had a pale band across his wrist; I think he normally wears a bracelet-"

"Probably just washed up sea-glass. They've been living on that island for who knows how many generations now, they don't know gold from dross."

"In any other circumstance that might have been true, but this is a common shipping lane for those desperate to evade notice. That and several remarks they made in our presence leads me to believe that not only have they encountered… gentlemen of fortune before, but they have been in direct conflict with them, and that suggests-"

"They've got a few baubles worth taking." Rin finished, beaming proudly at his first-mate.

"It would only be fair to relieve them of it, make sure they don't have to worry about any nasty visitors again."

Those smiles. It always meant trouble when Mako and Rin wore those matching wolf-grins; trouble that Nitori would just as soon not be present for. He waited until Makoto paused for another sip of whiskey before bolting out of the room to the relative safety of his little infirmary.

!

!

"Go after him, Nagisa." Rin snapped, "He snatched your ass out of the fire and you owe him thanks."

"For following orders? I don't think so."

"Speaking of orders," Makoto's voice was deceptively gentle, but Nagisa could read the threat beneath, "I think your captain just gave you one."

Well shit. Even Rei took a step back; no sympathy from that quarter- not that he needed any.

"I couldn't even find him-"

"He's in sickbay, where he always goes when you're not following him doggedly around deck. If he's not there, he's in the crow's nest- the only other place he ever goes. It's not an epic journey, Nagisa. Just tender your sincere apologies and promises of respect to our surgeon- the man responsible for keeping your hide intact- and we can go on as is. Fail to do so, and I'll hang you from the bowsprit for birdbait." Rin smiled charmingly, "A spectacle half the crew would pay dearly to see."

"Fine. I'm going. Why the fuck did you take him anyway? Three bona fide quacks aboard and you go for the one that squeals like an infant every time someone so much as hints he might want a weapon."

Almost every time. Nagisa still couldn't forget the good doctor's easy handling of their hostage; it was a sight he wasn't likely to forget any time soon.

Much as it shamed him to admit even to himself, he'd lost his breath in that first moment that Nitori had drawn his blade, a spark of heat shooting through him as he watched the doctor's easy handling of their captive.

From church-mouse to wolf in a split second and back again just as quickly. Fuck if that hadn't done all kinds of questionable things to Nagisa's state of mind- and body.

Nagisa had lived with himself long enough to know it was always the sweetly pretty ones that drew his eye, but it was the unexpectedly competent ones that kept his notoriously fickle interest. Not that he would be straying from Rei any time soon, a more capable and impossibly gorgeous man Nagisa had yet to meet.

But damned if he hadn't been tempted for the smallest moment to pin that timid creature in the corner and teach him a lesson or two on the subject of unabashed ruthlessness. And then the little liar had to go and prove that it was a lesson he'd already learned singularly well.

Damn it all to hell.

He stomped down the few steps to the sickbay, situated at the aft end of the ship. It didn't escape his notice that those crewman foolish enough to be working in the area all turned their eyes away. Good. He was not in a forgiving mood.

After five solid raps on the door, Nitori still hadn't bothered to answer. The little snit was determined to send him back to captain Rin without carrying out his orders, and while he was fairly sure Mako wouldn't allow the captain to string him up for such a small offense, there was every chance Makoto might set him to scrubbing every square inch of the deck on his knees. It wouldn't be the first time, it wouldn't even be the second or the third time.

Finally Nagisa kicked the door viciously, pushing it open and stepping inside carelessly.

It was dark. Every window carefully shuttered to admit only a sliver of light so that the room was more shadow than light. A handful of beds were bolted to the floor near the far wall, an improvement Nitori had insisted upon. Sackcloth mats had always been good enough for the sawbones that preceded him, but live it to Aiichiro Nitori to decide that his sickbay needed to be a cut above the rest. Makoto had personally overseen the reconstruction, and by 'overseen' he had meant 'watch Nagisa do all the work while he chatted amiably with their captive.'

"Nitori, you in here?"

Nagisa didn't see how he could be. There weren't many places to hide: A single cabinet, bolted, four beds, empty, one shelf occupied by incomprehensible books of pointless diagrams and recipes for foul concoctions, and a single hammock… occupied.

"The captain sent me to make my apologies, not that you particularly deserve them."

Nitori shifted slightly, eyeing him with something like malevolence from over the edge of the hammock. That couldn't be right, Nitori couldn't say 'boo' to a goose, let alone stare down his singular most devoted tormentor.

"Consider them made and get out."

Ooh. Interesting. Something was pricking their too pristine surgeon, his veneer of gentility was wearing thin.

Excellent news for Nagisa.

"Is something troubling you, doctor? I'm afraid you're the only ham-handed quack aboard, so you'll have to make do with your own services."

Not fair. Nitori had a fine and precise hand with the blade, he stitched so that hardly a scar was left, but the man took great pride in his work and that made it his weakest point.

Nagisa turned away, not bothering to wipe the smile from his face. "I hope you're feeling better soon. Mako and the captain are going to be kicking up trouble again, we'll need all hands to function. Yourself included, if you can believe that."

Conscience pricked him viciously at the unjust words, but he didn't dare call them back. He didn't want to encourage any sort of friendliness with the ship's healer; the man was an unholy temptation as an enemy, to have him as a friend… it didn't bear thinking on.

Just as his hand closed about the door's handle, his knees were kicked from under him in a technique Nagisa would always think of as Nitori's only proficient combat skill.

"Why do you insist on constantly tormenting me?" Nitori growled, gentle hands closing about Nagisa's shoulders and spinning him to press against the door. "You pick and sting and do your level best to ensure I never dare to think of this ship as home or this crew as family."

"We're not your fucking-"

"Now I will speak." Nitori hissed, fingers pressing just a little harder into his vulnerable skin. "But I'll finish that thought, shall I? You're not my fucking family-"

Nagisa gulped a breath, shocked at the casual profanity, "I don't have a fucking family. They tend to disappear the moment one is labeled a traitor; what I do have is a ship full of men who depend on me for even the most basic care. And one child that would rather I had thrown myself off the ship for the sharks to devour before I so much as set foot in this sickbay."

"I-"

"If you interrupt me, I will cut out your tongue. It's nothing I haven't been asked to do before, and it's not so great a task I would hesitate to carry it out now."

You're bluffing, Nagisa thought, but he didn't dare speak the thought aloud, not with Nitori in this precarious state.

"I am as serious as death, Nagisa, and twice as immediate for you."

It was the first time he had ever heard his name on those lips, and despite his shock, Nagisa couldn't suppress a shiver of unwilling arousal.

Nitori's eyes widened in surprise that mirrored his own. "Is that it, Nagisa? Is it really that simple? You want me, so you'll play some vicious schoolyard game like the little boy you pretend so hard to be?"

How the devil was the surgeon reading him so easily? Was he so obvious as that?

Nitori's grip tightened for a moment only to release just as swiftly. Nagisa stumbled, feet making contact with the deck once more; when had Nitori lifted him off it? There wasn't much time for him to contemplate the question before he found himself pinned once more to the wall, one hand twined through Nitori's, the other trapped between their bodies as warm lips and sharp teeth forced him to open, a too-clever tongue slipping in to duel with his own.

When Nitori pulled away, seconds or minutes, hell, hours later, Nagisa couldn't manage more than a quiet blink. That sinful mouth pressed to his ear, whispering words that sent a frisson of combined fear and lust shooting down his spine to stab sharply into his gut.

"If you ever confront me in my sanctuary again, you will live to regret it. I will show you another side to my craft-" A sharp nip and soothing tongue tracing the hollow just below his ear. "I will layer sensation upon sensation, exquisite agony over excruciating pleasure until your mind no longer recognizes the boundary between the two."

Nagisa wondered when his hand had twined in Nitori's shirt, and at what point had he dared to tilt his head back even farther, baring his throat to a hot mouth. "This is your first and last warning, do not come here again unless you require my services as a healer, or I will ensure you need me before you leave."

The door opened and Nagisa spilled out onto the steps outside, still gasping frantically for breath and staring in open-mouthed disbelief at the door before him.

What the hell?

"How did it go?" Makoto called from across the deck, twining thick rope between skilled fingers as he grinned like he knew precisely what had happened behind the closed door.

"I think I might have accidentally broken him." Nagisa called back hoarsely.

"I think you overestimate yourself." Makoto called back, losing himself in his work now that he could see every one of his charges was safe and well.